Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go. It belongs to Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi.
Crusty's Note: Sorry it took some time to post this chappie, there were some uploading troubles :p Anyway, this chap is my favorite one of this fic, hope it could be your favorite too :)
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Confession
Hikaru and Akira we're playing Go as usual. This time, Hikaru won.
"I'm not going to let you win on the next game, Hikaru," Akira leaned backward to his chair.
"Yeah, whatever," Hikaru grinned. He felt very satisfied.
Akira stood up, "I'm going to get some drink. Do you want any?"
"No… There's something I want more than that…"
Akira raised his eyebrows, "What's that?"
"Your kiss."
'WHACK!'
"Why did you hit me?" Hikaru quickly stood up. But suddenly he got pale to realize that he was in his classroom. His classmates were laughing at him and the math teacher was standing in front of him with a text book in his hand he used to hit Hikaru's head.
"Sleeping in class is so unforgiven, Shindou."
Hikaru thought he saw the teacher's glasses were flashing.
"Stand outside until this class over," the teacher pointed the door. Hikaru dragged his feet reluctantly. Not because he was sorry not able to join the lesson, but because he was very embarrassed.
Outside, Hikaru wondered why he had such dream.
He wanted to kiss Akira. That's true. But did he want to kiss Akira that bad made him dream of such thing? Or was it just regret because they didn't kiss at the playground before?
After Hikaru learned some little tips about kissing from Akari last night, the eagerness in kissing Akira was growing bigger and bigger. Hikaru couldn't stop wondering how Akira's lips would taste like.
'If he is going to kiss me again, I'll be ready for that.'
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"Hikaru, I heard the teacher sent you to stand outside," Akari visited Hikaru at his classroom during the lunch break.
"Yeah…"
"Is it because you couldn't stop thinking about the way you're going to kiss your crush?"
"What? No!" Hikaru slightly blushed.
"Whatever," Akari smiled, "Well, I'm just gonna say good luck to you, bye!" Akari left the classroom.
"Sigh… she came just to tease me…" Hikaru muttered under his breath.
Akari came to say good luck as if Hikaru is the one who's gonna start the kiss. But actually, Hikaru wasn't that confident to do it. He preferred Akira asking him the same question he asked at the playground before. And if Akira did, Hikaru was planning to say yes without any hesitation.
After school, Hikaru was going to go to the Go salon and play against Akira as usual. He wondered how Akira would act.
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Hikaru opened the salon door carefully. He peeped inside. Ichikawa was at the front desk but he didn't see Akira at the usual table.
Hikaru pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Irasshaimase… Ah, Shindou," Ichikawa smiled.
"Where's Akira?" Hikaru looked around.
"He couldn't come, sorry. But there's someone to see you," Ichikawa pointed at a table on the corner.
Hikaru saw someone with a white suit was sitting there. Ogata.
"Him? Why?" Hikaru knitted his brows. He felt reluctant to approach the guy.
"He said he's replacing Akira to play against you."
"What? Whose idea was that?" Hikaru really wanted to leave, but Ogata already saw him so he couldn't.
"Why are you here?" Hikaru asked. He was sitting face to face with Ogata.
"Akira-kun couldn't make it. There was an urgent thing, he has to go to the institute."
"Really? What happened?"
"Nothing much. Just something about his schedule, that's all."
"And why are you here? You don't have the responsibility to replace him, you know."
"I know. I just need to talk to you" Ogata smiled.
Hikaru said nothing. He wondered what is it that Ogata needs to say to him.
"How is it going with you and Akira-kun?"
"What? Uh, we're doing just fine," Hikaru replied rather confused. 'What was that suppose to mean?'
"I hope what I've said before didn't make you uneasy," Ogata lit his cigarette.
"About what?"
"About Akira-kun likes you."
Hikaru stared at Ogata. "Actually, I wondered why you said that…"
"I just felt saying what I'm thinking. I think Akira-kun doesn't consider you only as his rival or a friend to play Go with. I know him, that's why I can say this."
"Why is it important for you to say it?"
"I don't want him to get hurt."
Hikaru's heart thumped to hear that. "What do you mean?"
"Akira-kun doesn't have a lot of friends, and he's not that good in making one. I'm afraid, if he already likes a person and that person betrayed him, the wound won't be easy to heal," Ogata stared deep at Hikaru.
Hikaru stared back with no less intense, "Are you saying that I'm gong to hurt him?"
"No. But someday you might. I told you that he likes you because I wanna know how you felt for him. If you don't like him the way he likes you… I think you should let him know from the first place… before he got misunderstood about you."
Hikaru tilted his face down staring at the Go-ban. He had told Akira that he likes Akira a lot. Was that a mistake? Could it be that actually he doesn't like Akira the way Akira likes him?
Have he hurt Akira already?
"You see, Shindou," Ogata put off his cigarette, "If it wasn't because of you, I'm not going to give up."
Hikaru quickly stared at Ogata. He was thinking could it be that Ogata…
"I met Akira-kun first than you met him. I know him better than you know him. But he seemed to be happy near you… and his smile is important for me. That's why, I'm giving him up. Letting him with you is still fine with me. It hurts, but it's fine."
Hikaru gulped.
"But if you don't feel the same way as Akira-kun feels about you… I won't be that hesitant to take him away from you," Ogata smiled. Somehow his smile was scary to Hikaru.
"Well, Shindou? What are you going to say about my confession?"
Hikaru cleared his throat. "I like Akira. But honestly, I don't exactly know how much I like him. I'm glad you told me this and I honored your confession, but I don't like what you said about giving him up. He's not yours, neither mine. If he wants to choose someone, it is all up to him. One thing for sure, I won't give up. If you want to take him away, so be it. I'm not just gonna stand and watch your moves. I'm a pro and I'm gonna strike back," Hikaru smiled firmly made Ogata speechless. He was impressed with Hikaru's statement.
"Wow, that was very heroic, Shindou," Ogata smiled in a charming way. "I guess I'll see you later then. I'm all done with my talking. Bye."
Ogata stood up from his chair and went outside the salon.
"Phew! What's with that guy?" Hikaru wiped his forehead and sighed in relieve. He still felt his heart thumping. He couldn't believe that he said all of those things to Ogata.
If Akira was there, he couldn't imagine how Akira would look like hearing his 'heroic' statement.
Hikaru leaned backward to his seat. Slowly, he tried to remember what Ogata have said before. Suddenly he could feel how Ogata feels.
He met Akira way way back before Hikaru met Akira. He experienced lots of things with Akira before Hikaru did.
And now he saw someone getting closer with Akira… he got every reason to be worried… and to be hurt…
'But I like him too, Ogata. I'm sorry, but I like him.'
Hikaru stood and went to the door. After he said goodbye to Ichikawa, he left the Go salon.
Hikaru planned to meet Akira tonight.
tbc
